Having worked at two of the world's finest restaurant, El Bulli and El Celler de Can Roca, Gerard Curto Rodriguez came to Melbourne a year ago, armed with a wealth of culinary knowledge and the desire to learn even more.
When did you become a chef?
I started when I was 18 years old. I studied for two and a half years at a culinary school in my home town, Cambrils in Spain, then I jumped around a few restaurants, and did some more study in Barcelona .
Did you always want to be a chef?
No. I didn’t ever think about being a chef when I was a kid. I liked cooking, I’d cook omelettes for my friends but I didn’t ever think about becoming a chef. When I was 17 or 18 and I went to a campus and you have different options, I liked the culinary one and I said at home that I wanted to become a chef, and my family said, “What?” They told me that I would have to work when everyone else was partying and on public holidays and all that. But I knew that. I started to study and I loved it and I still do now.
Where did you work in Spain?
After a year of study and over the summer I worked at a restaurant in my hometown. Once I’d finished studying in Cambrils, they sent me to El Bulli, which is a famous restaurant in Spain. I spent a summer there and after that was when I went to Barcelona to the other school, which was also very famous because it was the only school in Europe to have one Michelin star. I studied there for 28 months; it was the big diploma they have. After that they sent me to El Celler de Can Roca, another famous restaurant with three Michelin stars, to learn more. After a few months they offered me a job as chef de partie and I worked there for a year before being offered a head chef position at a Michelin star restaurant near my home town. I was there for two years and then I wanted to come to Australia to improve my English and experience another country.
How long have you been in Australia?
For one year.
It seems as though you very quickly got to work in a top restaurant and then very quickly go the opportunity to be head chef. What do you think you have that makes you so good?
It seems quick on paper but it was a lot of hours and a lot of work as well. My friends were having parties and enjoying life and I worked every summer. The first few restaurants I worked in, I was working for free to learn.
But I also think it is because I discovered that the culinary world is my hobby. I never felt as though I was working, I was enjoying it and learning a lot. Even if I was working lots of hours. In Spain I was working 14 or 15 hours a day, 5 days a week but I enjoyed it. My journey might seem fast but one of my bosses was head chef in a Michelin star restaurant at 23 years old and he has his own restaurant now. It can be quick if you work hard.
Do you have to prove yourself and be really creative in the food you produce in Europe to climb up the ranks?
I think in Europe we are more creative with food and take more risks than here in Australia. In Australia it is more old style cooking.
That’s interesting.
There’s a lot of hollandaise sauce and béarnaise sauce. In Europe over the last 12 or 13 years we have pretty much avoided those sauces. They have come back a little now. There was a boom of creativity in Europe over those years.
And what about molecular gastronomy?
Molecular gastronomy comes from there. For me, it changed when I saw those chefs explaining their recipes to everyone. Normally they would hide their recipes and not tell anyone but now I can got to a restaurant in Australia and eat something and recognise the technique from El Bulli. A lot of chefs have been inspired by Spain and copy the techniques and recipes but they don’t always acknowledge that’s where they get it.
I don’t like having limits, such as, only using Spanish products. If I like a product and I think my dish will be better by using it, I’ll use it. I like to have freedom.
What kind of food do you like to cook?
I love cooking fish and seafood. I like getting it right from the wharf, cleaning it, cutting it, cooking it. I use the sous-vide machine a lot. One of the chefs at El Celler de Can Roca used that technique a lot and I learned a lot from him. But I also like cooking in the more classical way. Being a chef isn’t about using lots of machines; you need to have a solid base of classic cuisine. That’s what I learned in Barcelona. I got a solid base in French, Spanish and Catalan cuisine. When you know this you know how to make things properly even if you are working within a different cuisine.
Australia is a different culture for you in lots of ways, is it a challenge to build relationships with suppliers and source the food you want to use?
In the beginning it was quite hard with my level of English, but I had lots of help from my sous chef who speaks Spanish. I’m used to working in restaurants bigger than this with a bigger staff. But here you have to manage staffing and rosters. In Spain everyone worked every day the restaurant was open. Here the challenge was to manage the roster when the restaurant is open seven days. But I didn’t take the difficult option. People told me that because I was starting in a country where I didn’t know the language or the culture, I should work in a Spanish restaurant and this is a Spanish restaurant. I know Spanish food, I know how to do it and all the recipes so it was easier for me. But we are changing the menu and taking out the paellas and al that so that we can be more International; we’ll have a bit of Korean, a bit of Indian; a mix.
What have you discovered or learned while being in Australia?
Here in Melbourne there are a lot of different restaurants and you can have a excellent Asian food, fusion, pasta or a really good Spanish restaurant like MoVida and there is a lot of good quality cuisine in all these styles. I like this city.
Will you go back to Spain?
I don’t know yet.
That’s exciting. Would you like to have your own restaurant one day?
Yes. I think that’s the dream of every chef. When you can do whatever you want and don’t have restrictions, you know that it’s your money you are playing with and you manage things the way you want.
Would you want a big restaurant or a small one?
Not so big. I think it’s better to start off small, but not too small because you have to check the feasibility of the business and how many guests you would need to have to make money. One of the differences I see between Europe and Australia is that in Europe we would do 50 or 60 covers and no more and we did more set menus. Here there is more a la carte and you can do 120 covers. It’s more than double. But yes, I’d like to have my own restaurant, with 50 or 60 seats.
Where do you get your ideas?
I look at a Spanish gastronomic blog to see what he is eating. He eats in all kinds of restaurants from 50 euros to 120 euros. I also love going to restaurants and trying their food. I also have a big collection of culinary books. My ideas come from lots of different places. I don’t like having limits, such as, only using Spanish products. If I like a product and I think my dish will be better by using it, I’ll use it, like soy sauce for example. I like to have freedom.
Bohemian Bar and Restaurant
35 Dukes Walk, South Wharf, Melbourne